Valve-operating device



Aug. 11, 1925. 7 Re. 16,149: A. F. ERICKSON VALVE OPERATING DEVICE Original Filed Sept. 15, 1920 INVENTOR MBA ATTORNEY Reissued Aug. 11, 1925.

- UNITED STATE Arirnun r. ERICKSON,

orron'rnmn, oaneon.

VALVE-OPERATING DEVICE.

Original No. 1,489,231, dated December-'19, 1922, Serial No. 410,522, filed September 15, 1920. Application ior reissue filed July 7, 1925. Serial m. 42,099.

To all whom it may concern:

.Be it known that I, ARTHUR F. EmcKsoN,

Y acitizen of the United States, residing at ill Portland, county of Multnomah, State of Oregon, havejinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Valve-Operatmg Devices, of which the following is a-speclfication.

My invention relates to devices for'opening and closing valves in general, and particularly to such devices as are adaptedfor use with the valves upon gas mains or pipes in connection with gas heating furnaces and the like. The object of my invention is to provide an electrically operated device that will open and close such a valve with that quick movement-that is commerclally known as snap action, and that will hold said valve open or closed positively until further operationof the device; a further ob]ect of my invention is eliminate all'ele'ctric' motors and. other mechanical members of the panyi-ng drawing, which is a part of this to a thermostat.

application for Letters Patent,'lil :e characters of reference indicating like parts throughout the several views thereof, and, in which:

Fig.1 is a; sectional elevationof a valve and-my device mounted together, and Wired Fig. 2 is a side elevation. of the same.

I! toggle arms.

- plunger and valve rod, showing the method solenoids mounted adjacentlyand coaxially and having a common plunger, a valve stem 7 v connected to said plunger and extending snap into the valve. to beo'perated, and means upon the valve stem' for. insuring positive opening and closing. of the valve and also 9.

action to the opening or closing operatio v The valve 5 illustrated is a well known gas valve of commerce, and as it forms no my device. ig: 3 is a perspectivelview of one of the 4 is a detail fragmentary view of the part of my invention it needs no extended description herein, other than to say that the upper member of said valve is provided with a stem or hub 6 upon which the frame 7 of my device is'mounted by means of a nut' 8, and that the valve stem 9 extends upward through said hub into my device.

My device is all contained within the rectangular frame 7 the two solenoids 10 and 11' being coaxiallv mounted within a solenoid casing 12, which casing is suspended from the upper member of the frame'7, as shown in Fig. 1. Each solenoid is electrically independent of the-other, although provided with a common plunger 13, said plunger being universally connected to a stem 14 by means of a ball and socket arrangement illustrated in detail in Fig. 4.

The stems 9 and 14 arearticulately consprings press the ends of the arms 17 to- ,wardsone another, and thus cause the toggle arms to assume their furthermost points of travel at each end of their path of movement with an accelerated or snap action,

or closing of the valve 5.- A slow. opening or closing of the valve 5 has been found to result ,in. back firing through the valve 5, so the snap action imparted to the valve by the toggle arms is an important function of To reduce friction of the moving parts to a minimum I rovide' a knife edge mounting of the ar s17 upon their respective springs 18, the ends of the springs resting in V-shapednotches in the ends of the arms, as shown in Fig. 1, andillustrated. in detail in Fig; 3.

Suitable screws .justing the pressure of the springs 18 upon their respective arms 17.

An electrical contact 20 is mounted above one of the arms 17, and another electrical contact 21 is mounted beneath the other of said arms 17, as shown in Fig. 1, said contacts being each insulated from the device by means of insulation members 22 and 23' which action causes very sudden opening".

19 are provided for admostat. I

flows through the thermostat, wire 30, b1ndrespectively. Each of the arms 17 is provided with pads 24; with'which said contacts coact to complete electricalcircuits hereinafter described.

Suitable binding posts 25 and 26 are provided upon the frame 7 and are connected with the bindin posts 27 and 28 of a thermostat 29 by w1res 30and 31 respectively, the third binding post of the thermostat being grounded by wire 32 as shown in Fig. 1, a battery being inserted between the thermostat and the ground.

The binding post 25 is connected with the winding of the solenoid 10 by wire 33, and

the opposite end of said winding is connected to contact 21 by wire 34. The binding post 26 is connected with the winding of the solenoid 11 by wire 35, and the opposite end of said winding is connected to contact '20 by wire 36. The entire deviceis grounded through the pipe to which the valve 5 is connected.

The operation of my device is as follows:

Let it be supposedthat the temperature of the room in which the thermostat is located has been raised to a point which causes the blade of the thermostat to contact with the terminal upon binding post 27, thus completing an electric circuit through the ther- The current from the battery now ing post 25, .wire 33, solenoid 10, wire-'34, contact 21,;and through the members of the device to the ground, and thus back to the battery. This current energizes the solenoid10 and thereby causes the plunger 13 to V rise therein, thus opening the valve 5,,the

opening being very quick due to the electric action and also to the snap action of the toggle arms 17 after they have passed their central position, said arms finally assuming the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1,

and one of said arms then coming'into contact with the contact 20. The toggle arms,

having passed their central position, will cause the valve 5 to remain open indefinitely,"

' therein and to close the valve 5, this closed position of all the parts being shown in Fig. 1, and the toggle arms having the, same snap action as described with the opening of the valve. I

It will be observed that the electric current operates only momentarily, as the instant it v is set up at either bindingpost 27 or 28 of the thermostat it is broken at the corresponding contact 21 or 20 respectively of my device, and it cannot be again established until the temperature conditions within the room containing the thermostat have caused operation of the thermostat. It

will be observed that the operations are alternative, that is when the valve 5 has been opened, the next'operation is the closing of the same, and vice versa.

My device may be made of any size, and constructed of any materials deemed convenient and suitable for a device of this character, and while Ihave illustrated and described a form of construction and arrangement of parts found desirable in materializing my invention, I wish to include in this application all mechanical equivalents and substitutes that may fairly be considered' to come Within the scope and purview of-niy invention as defined in-the appended claims.

, Having disclosed my invention so that others may be enabled to construct and to use the same, what I claim as new, and de sire to. secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a valve operating device: a pair of adjacently disposed axially mounted solenoids; a plunger common to both of said solenoids; means to connect said plunger to the stem of said valve; toggle arms connected to said means; and relatively yieldable fulcrums for said toggle arms.

2; A valve; a valve stem; a frame mounted upon said valve; toggle arms within said frame coacting with said valve stem; relatively yieldable fulcrum mountings for said toggle arms;- means to adjust said fulcrum mountings; solenoids mounted upon 'said frame; a solenoid plunger" coacting with said toggle arms; and electrical make and break contacts coacting with said toggle arms.

In witness whereof I claim the foregoing as my own I hereunto aflix my signature'in the presence. of two witnesses at Portland, county of Multnomah, State of'Oregon, this 2nd day of July, 192

ARTHUR F. ERI KSON.

W nessesr 1 L. J. RoBmsoN, v C. F.'BLAKE p I, 

